Uber strikes deal with Wellington Airport

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Dratsab

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#222832 30-Aug-2017 19:28

Now that Wellington Airport has struck a deal with Uber, the Taxi federation is up in arms. What'll they do? Unless they really want to see their business gutted they'll have to come up with something compelling.

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#1855457 30-Aug-2017 19:37

Bloody good stuff. Although crossing the road to burger king was no massive deal.

timmmay

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#1855472 30-Aug-2017 19:51

Taxis in New Zealand are a ripoff. Australia seems a fair bit cheaper.

Dratsab

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#1855478 30-Aug-2017 20:02

This is quite a game changer, I'd expect to see taxi prices start to come down as they start to try and compete. The problem, as far as I can see, is that the drivers don't earn a huge amount as the taxi companies take a reasonable whack of each fare. If that's correct, that's a part that'll need to change a lot. It'll also mean they'll need to significantly streamline (re-work) their dispatch service.

chevrolux: Bloody good stuff. Although crossing the road to burger king was no massive deal.

Unless it was pouring down, ha ha.

richms

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#1855494 30-Aug-2017 20:38

I hope the taxi companies decide to boycott the airport and just accelerate their demise so we can hopefully have a uber competitor arise from their ashes. Proper app not that blue bubble turd.

Richard rich.ms

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#1855501 30-Aug-2017 20:51

timmmay: Taxis in New Zealand are a ripoff. Australia seems a fair bit cheaper.

Is that why I was sitting in a back seat with no springs & torn carpets recently while visiting Sydney?

Uber does have a policy in NZ that cars used for Uber must be no older than ten years.

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bmt

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#1855507 30-Aug-2017 20:59

I took an Uber from the Burger King a couple of months ago. Been to Wellington loads of times but I didn't know where BK was and my phone's GPS was a bit dodgy so we ended up walking about 200m in the wrong direction before realizing. Can't be the only people to have done that..

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#1855519 30-Aug-2017 21:28

bmt:

I took an Uber from the Burger King a couple of months ago. Been to Wellington loads of times but I didn't know where BK was and my phone's GPS was a bit dodgy so we ended up walking about 200m in the wrong direction before realizing. Can't be the only people to have done that..

Let me guess - Samsung Galaxy Sx (S something) ?

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#1855573 31-Aug-2017 05:47

chevrolux:

....crossing the road to burger king was no massive deal.

Yeh - the weather is always wonderful in Wellington.

Amanon

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#1855580 31-Aug-2017 07:07

Once the law changes come into effect in October the small passenger transport sector will be markedly different. Everyone can complete on the same level...it's going to be interesting what innovation will come then, and what sort of service and prices we will see.

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#1855583 31-Aug-2017 07:14

While it's great to see this finally happen I have issues with the fact dropoffs are charged for. The greedy monopolistic approach by airports in both NZ and Australia who clip the ticket on every customer at every opportunity is simply crazy. It reminds me of Auckland airport bragging how changing their duty free operators in 2015 would deliver an extra $5 million in profit in it's first year - it's clear that ultimately customers are the ones paying for this.

Charging for dropoffs is an unheard of practice almost everywhere in the world and not something Australian airports have even contemplated due to the massive backlash that would occur. I'd prefer to catch my Uber to Z and walk rather than pay the airport $3 for the very same reason I now won't park there since parking prices increased from $18 to $32 per day with the demise of Air NZ parking.

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#1855626 31-Aug-2017 08:38

Dratsab: ... the Taxi federation is up in arms. What'll they do? Unless they really want to see their business gutted they'll have to come up with something compelling.

Find a rich sugar daddy that can subsidise them at US$2 billion/year? As another headline read, your Uber ride is not really as cheap as you think.

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MikeAqua

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#1855681 31-Aug-2017 09:09

Taxis all charge $7 for an airport pick up. Hopefully we will see some downward pressure on that.

I'm still not using Uber though .... a taxi charge card for work travel is very convenient from an admin perspective, as is being able to walk to the rank and get in a taxi without pre-booking or fecking about with an app, as is having options outside of the three main centres.

Mike

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#1855698 31-Aug-2017 09:42

MikeAqua:

Taxis all charge $7 for an airport pick up. Hopefully we will see some downward pressure on that.

I'm still not using Uber though .... a taxi charge card for work travel is very convenient from an admin perspective, as is being able to walk to the rank and get in a taxi without pre-booking or fecking about with an app, as is having options outside of the three main centres.

That's assuming you can get a taxi at Wellington airport - 3 of my late night arrivals lately have had zero taxis available and significant queues. The $7 is an inflated charge and also the highest in NZ. It's more than they pay the airport and it's to also try and cover the inflated yearly fee they pay the airport just to have a spot there.

Uber are an evil company, but when the NZ taxi companies are stuck in the dark ages spending all their resources on trying to trash Uber rather than actually innovate they'll end up like every other company who fails to adapt. They'll slowly die. Just look at Hutt Valley taxis who last updated their app in 2011..

If I were the taxi companies I'd be up in arms over how they've been treated by the airport in recent times. The airport booting Uber out has been great for Uber and I heard figures earlier in the year of several hundred rides per day. They've had massive growth at the expense of the taxi companies who bid inflated amounts of money to get a spot at the airport. Uber won.

At least the recent airport changes have stopped it feeling like a corrupt 3rd world country. I've seen plenty of comments even on the Wellington airport facebook page from people who felt very intimidated having to walk past all the taxi drivers who were harassing passengers as you walked out.

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#1855742 31-Aug-2017 10:22

richms: I hope the taxi companies decide to boycott the airport and just accelerate their demise so we can hopefully have a uber competitor arise from their ashes. Proper app not that blue bubble turd.

I've been seeing a bunch ad's for a crowd called Zoomy lately. I've had a quick look at their home page and see they have a presence in Auckland and Wellington only at this stage. I don't really know much about them but my impression is that some form of competitor is arising.

IcI:

Dratsab: ... the Taxi federation is up in arms. What'll they do? Unless they really want to see their business gutted they'll have to come up with something compelling.

Find a rich sugar daddy that can subsidise them at US$2 billion/year? As another headline read, your Uber ride is not really as cheap as you think.

Not as cheap for the investors perhaps but certainly good value for the end user while it lasts. I've read a heap of articles on how poorly the drivers are treated by Uber so don't use them (don't use taxi's either) as a rule. That said I used them once after attending a bit of a knees-up in Auckland earlier this year. If there's a repeat of said shindig next year I'll give Zoomy (or similar) a crack.

MikeAqua

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#1855751 31-Aug-2017 10:31

sbiddle:

That's assuming you can get a taxi at Wellington airport - 3 of my late night arrivals lately have had zero taxis available and significant queues. The $7 is an inflated charge and also the highest in NZ. It's more than they pay the airport and it's to also try and cover the inflated yearly fee they pay the airport just to have a spot there.

Will be interesting to see if the $3 fee being charged to Uber drivers makes a dent in the taxis fee. Also be interesting if people still walk to BK to save $3/stick it to the airport company.

Airport companies are a-holes exploiting a monopoly. But if all the taxi companies are charging the same inflated fee that's dodgy ...

I tend to pre-book my cabs If I expect it to be busy. They take the flight number and they have a person at the airport who keeps an eye on the arrival times and assigns taxis to bookings. Cost a couple of bucks extra.

When I used to consistently arrive at peak demand periods I used to take the bus as it was usually quicker and dropped me within 5 minutes walk of work/home.

Mike

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